AmPark Owl Blog

I have been so touched by all of the efforts of our community to spread kindness and support this month and wanted to take the moment to acknowledge the results of this tremendous work.

Pledges have still been coming in and we are up to $1600 in March of Dimes fundraising! This almost doubles our previous record. When we collected all of the posters we realized there was no way to have a poster contest winner and all are proudly displayed instead.

This month of remembrance began with a mountain of candy donated to Treats for Troops. A large portion was given directly to our local NY Army National Guard base on 195th street. They were so appreciative!

Today many students and staff members supported the GiGO Fund by wearing rocking denim for the Wear Jeans for Troops campaign. We also hosted our first event to honor veterans from our parent community and it was a truly memorable event in all of the best ways. Student ambassadors greeted veterans including Ramon Olivo, Gabe Speciale, Eva Maldonado, Rury Jabril, Kevin Guzman and Cynthia Lopez. After breakfast, our veterans visited classrooms and shared their stories of service. A huge thank you to our community veterans, their families, and all of our service members. AmPark, keep up this amazing heart work. It makes a difference. ​

This month has flown by! It’s hard to believe we are heading into Parent Teacher Conferences this month and the holidays are approaching. In this month of Thanksgiving, I would like to acknowledge how profoundly grateful I am to be a part of such an exceptional community. Thank you families for all that you do and the many ways in which you partner alongside the school as we continuously strive to create an optimal elementary school experience for our children. The generosity of spirit shown, the kindness shared, and the trust placed in the AmPark staff each day is appreciated beyond measure.

October brought a Parent Association Meeting where we touched upon hallmarks of our “whole child” approach to learning by checking in on the mood meter and introducing WIGs (Wildly Important Goals). If you have been walking the building lately you may have noticed the teachers displaying their personal goals as models for the students when they begin to set theirs in this format in the coming weeks. We are not leaving families out of the fun so please be on the lookout for our rescheduled WIG night. Chef Marion is also being booked for a PA meeting with a wellness presentation. Expect to see events this month and next focusing on these important aspects of self-care. Happy, healthy adults contribute to the growth of happy, healthy children!

Our annual WonderWalk Costume Parade to fundraise and increase awareness for the March of Dimes made more than a few eyes watery. Pledges are still coming in and we thank you all for your support. The beautiful handmade posters personalized the event. Thank you for taking the time to pledge, make posters, and participate as an enthusiastic audience. Our 2nd Treats for Troops drive brought in bags and bags of candy! These donations are sure to go a long way! What a beautiful display of kindness.

November’s Book of the Month is This is the Rope by Jacqueline Woodson. This is the Rope is a story from America’s Great Migration that tells the story of one family’s history through a shared jump rope.

We love to share behind-the-scenes happenings in our school. Follow me and AmPark on twitter @amparkkelly!

Upcoming Events: (Please check the Calendar here!)11/5 School Leadership Team Meeting11/6 Schools Closed for Election Day11/8 AmPark's Spelling Bee 8:30AM 2nd floor atrium11/9 Veteran’s Day Event: PK Teacher Melissa has put together a special event to honor veterans from our community as well as to teach our students about the significance of Veteran’s Day. Veterans will be hosted for breakfast, read books to classes, and participate in a Q & A. A big thank you to all of our veterans and their families for their service. Please remember to wear jeans as part of our Wear Jeans for Troops Day to support the GiGO fund.11/12 Schools Closed for Veteran’s Day11/14 - 11/16 Fall Book Fair11/15 Parent Teacher Conferences: Check out Habits for Highly Effective Conferences11/17 Harvest Festival11/19-12/7 Food Drive11/19 PK - 2 School Sing 11/26 3-5 School Sing11/22 and 11/23 Schools Closed for Thanksgiving11/28 PA Meeting11/27 - 11/30 WITS Salsa Labs11/30 PA Recap and Family Tea

A Message from Our Wellness Committee

Our focus on Wellness this year at AmPark shone like a light during our amazingly HEALTHY Halloween celebrations! We were so impressed to see how many families made a point to keep our classroom parties full of fruit and whole grains and free of candy. Thank you so much for supporting our efforts to keep AmPark healthy even during the most often sugar filled times of the year! We've got WITS Tomato Salsa Labs during the week of November 27th, where you will be welcomed to come in and cook some delicious tomato recipes with your children! Schedule to follow! For more information on becoming involved with WITS at AmPark please reach out to HealthyAmpark@gmail.com.​Check out this month's November Alternative Lunch Menu here!

Finally, some parents were asking about what our Salad Bar looks like (which all students are welcome to visit as many times as they like every day)! Here's a quick picture that we snapped so you can take a peek at the delicious offerings your child has at lunch!

Parents' Association Corner

Thank you so much for coming out to the Costume Party and helping us make it such a great success. We earned $1,300 towards our goal of $17,000 this year! We also want to thank you for coming to our Movie Night last Friday and for sending in those Box Tops by the deadline. The winning class for the Fall collection was Zoe's! Start collecting them again as there will be another round in the Spring.

​We have a lot to look forward to this month including our Harvest Festival, Square 1 Art Fundraiser, Food Drive and Book Fair. We hope to see you all at the events and at the next general PA meeting on 11/28.

If you haven't signed up to receive the Parents' Association emails, you won't want to miss out! We send updates, reminders and important information regarding school happenings, so please sign up today. All you have to do is send a quick email to amparkpaparents@gmail.com and ask to be added to our blasts.

Thank you,Odaliz, PA President

Square1Art Fundraiser: In the next week you will receive an order form from Square1Art. The item pictured on the front is your child's original, custom piece of art. You can order your child's artwork on a variety of items! Orders will be distributed in mid-December, the week before winter break - just in time for the holidays! But don't stop there, you can plan Mother's Day, Father's Day and birthdays for the entire year! And to make this even better: AmPark will receive a percentage of every order! Keep an eye out for your child's order form, coming home theweek of November 13th. You'll only have two weeks to order so don't delay!

Book Fair:Our first Scholastic Book Fair of the year is next week! The book fair runsWednesday, Nov 14 through Friday, Nov 16th during school hours with night time hours on Nov 15th during Parent Teacher Conferences. Our kiddos LOVE going to the book fair and we love getting them to read! The book fair cannot happen if we cannot get the volunteers to run it, so please consider signing up for a shift or two. The book fair is one event that needs individuals who are around during school hours and these shifts are not easy to fill. We've even had some parents volunteer with another child in tow! Please help us bring a smile to our kids' faces while they further their knowledge. Sign up now: https://tinyurl.com/amparkluvsbooks

Harvest Festival:Please join us for AmPark's Annual Harvest Festival onSaturday, November 17th from 11am-2:30pm. This popular event is full of entertainment and fun - don't miss out! As always, we cannot do it without you. Please sign up for a short shift so we can make this event happen! Food donations are also needed for this event. A sign up link will be sent by the PA soon. Check out our flyer for more information.

Food Drive:AmPark's Annual Food Drive kicks off earlier this year with in-class involvement and preparation. The drive will run November 19th - December 7th. When planning your Thanksgiving shopping, why not add an item or two for those in need? Please take a look at our attached flyer.